If you’ve ever done ANY research at all to figure out how to grow as a Content Creator on social media, you’ve probably heard this “magical” formula:

Pick a niche, be consistent, and provide value.

You possibly even heard it from me!

If you’re someone who rolls your eyes at this advice, then you are just like I was. You heard the advice, applied it to your business, and NOTHING CHANGED. It didn’t work!

Why? Why does everyone give this advice if it doesn’t work?

That’s exactly what I’m going over today. So, buckle up and get ready to keep rolling your eyes. You may not like my answer, even if it’s right.

Why Everyone Says You Need to Pick a Niche

There are two primary reasons you constantly hear this advice without it helping you:

1. They didn’t explain it right
2. You didn’t apply it in the right way

The reason everyone says this is because it works. I know, that may not be what you want to hear, but it’s the truth.

When implemented correctly, “Picking a niche, being consistent and providing value” actually works.

But that’s just the problem. No one tells you how to implement that advice correctly.

Until today.

To put that advice in shorter terms, I like to say, “Define your Crux”. Here’s what that means.

Define Your Crux: Nailing Your Content Strategy

What is your Crux?

Your Crux This is the nucleus, the heart, the entire essence of your business. Without this, the rest of the steps won’t matter because they won’t work.

Skipping this step is like trying to bake a cake without flour, sugar or eggs… it just wouldn’t make any sense.

There are 3 parts to defining your Crux:

• Niche/Industry
• Target Audience
• Your positioning

Let’s start with the term we’ve all heard before… ”niche”

Defining Your Niche

I don’t want to spend too much time on this since you’ve already heard this before, but I can’t skip this. I’ll keep it brief.

We all know we need to pick a niche. But what does that mean?

According to our trusty Google, a niche is a “specialized segment of the market for a particular kind of product or service.”

Most of the time, people make the mistake of focusing solely on the first half of the definition:  “specialized segment of the market.”

That’s where labels like fitness, fashion, travel, beauty, etc. come in.

But we forget about the second half of the definition: “for a particular kind of product or service.”

Defining Your Target Audience

This means you need to answer questions like:

• “What kind of ______” (What kind of “fitness”? What kind of “fashion”? etc.)
• “Who is my message for?”

So that means your niche isn’t just “fitness”. That’s your industry.

An example of an actually defined niche would be: “At-home fitness for busy moms.”

Boom. There’s your niche. It’s your industry + your target audience.

Now, if you already knew this and this was just a review, let’s move on to positioning. Perhaps you’ll learn something new.

Defining Your Positioning

This final piece of your Crux is often overlooked because it can be the hardest one to answer.

Your positioning is how you present yourself on any platform in a way that makes you different and unique from everyone else in your niche.

I don’t mean being fake.

I’ll give you a hint. What I mean by being “unique”, is just being you. And that’s hard to grasp sometimes.

From your own perspective, you may not always feel unique, but from an outsider’s perspective, people see you as different. And in the best way possible.

It’s difficult to realize that by being yourself, you already are so different from anyone else.

Where people fail at positioning is when they try too hard to be somebody they’re not. Or when they try to imitate someone that’s already successful in their niche. But that’s not unique and it doesn’t always come across as natural or authentic.

And if you need help finding what makes you unique, try asking your closest friends or relatives:

• “What would you come to me for advice on?”
• “What are some things that make me unique?”
• “What are some quirks that I have?”
• “What am I good at?”

Because, like I said, people notice what makes you different.

To wrap it all in a bow, your Crux is just you being you. And if that’s still hard to grasp, my advice is to just start creating and posting.

You’ll find what comes naturally to you or what feels forced.

How to Position Yourself Correctly

Why is it important to position yourself correctly?

1. It will attract the right audience
2. It will attract the right brands

I get so many people who come up to me and say, “Millie, why am I not growing? How come I’m not landing brand collaborations?”

And when I go to their profile, their positioning is all over the place. At a glance, I’m not able to tell who they are, what they do and how they help.

When someone comes to your profile, whether it’s a potential follower or a brand, they need to understand at a glance what you have to offer through your profile photo, username, bio and content.

When all 4 of those are in alignment, that’s when you will start to see change happen for you.

Example of Positioning

Let’s say I’m starting a baking account on TikTok.

If my profile picture is of me with my dog, my username is “SillyMillie24” and my bio says, “You might know me from YouTube as a Social Media Coach”, I can guarantee no person or algorithm will know it’s a baking account.

My account needs to reflect my niche. In that case, I’d change my profile photo to me at a kitchen counter or holding a cupcake. I’d change my username to “BakingWithMillie”. My bio would say “Daily baking recipes with Millie”.

And most importantly, all my content would be quality, on-brand videos of baking.

Why high-quality?

You want your content to be binge-worthy. That way, if one goes viral, people will go to your profile and start watching every other video you have.

I go more in-depth on this in my post here on Instagram SEO. Go read that and apply it to whichever platform you want, since it’s relevant everywhere.

Niche + Algorithm = True Love

So, why does this work? Why does everyone say to niche down? Why does defining your Crux work?

Because every platform thrives on an algorithm. And that algorithm needs to understand who you are and what your content is about. Otherwise, the algorithm won’t know who to show your content to.

For example, if you post consistently about coffee, you may not get traction immediately. But if you don’t stop and you keep posting, the platform’s algorithm will recognize you as a “coffee content creator” and start showing your content to users who love watching coffee content.

Now, this doesn’t mean this is the only true strategy that works. There are so many strategies. 

This is just a strategy I’ve seen work for myself and my course students to get quicker results.

So, what are you waiting for? Go pick your niche define your Crux!

And tell me how it goes in the comments! I’d love to follow you along your journey as you follow your joy!